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"Oh, by Merlin, I need to give him a full ten points!"
Lockhart was extremely excited.
Even more excited than when his books became bestsellers.
Because Dudley's perfect answers and his identity as Professor Jerry seemed to have made Lockhart see him as both a fan of his books and a kindred spirit.
Was there anything more satisfying than having an author far better than yourself enjoy your books?
Lockhart gave Dudley several firm pats on the shoulder, praising him nonstop.
"This class has truly brought me so many surprises. So I'm going to give all of you a little surprise as well."
Lockhart bent down with a mysterious air and pulled a large cage covered with a cloth from behind the lectern, placing it on the table.
Then he deliberately lowered his voice.
"From this moment on, be careful! My mission is to teach you how to defend yourselves against the most wicked creatures known to the wizarding world! In this classroom, you will face truly terrifying things. But remember, as long as I am here, none of you will suffer any harm."
"All I ask is that you remain calm."
As if cooperating with Lockhart's words, the cage began shaking violently.
Inside, it really did seem as if some terrible creature was trapped.
That made many students shrink back without realizing it.
Of course, most of them were still looking on with curiosity.
"I must ask you not to scream."
Lockhart lowered his voice once again.
"That will only enrage them!"
The classroom fell completely silent.
Everyone held their breath.
Lockhart pulled off the cloth and revealed the mystery.
In an extremely exaggerated tone, he announced.
"Cornish pixies, freshly caught, of course."
Gryffindor: ???
Slytherin: ???
Cornish pixies were a type of pixie, small iron-blue humanoid creatures about eight inches tall, with tiny pointed faces.
They were extremely mischievous and loved playing all kinds of tricks and pranks.
In terms of pure danger, they might not even be as dangerous as Doxies.
But saying they were not dangerous would not be right either.
This kind of creature possessed strength far beyond what its size suggested.
Two or three of them together could easily hoist a younger student into the air.
And they were especially terrible when it came to causing destruction.
If they claimed to be second-best at it, no one would dare claim first.
However, the students in the classroom did not seem to take that group of little destroyers seriously.
In their eyes, Cornish pixies, gnomes, and Doxies were creatures on the same level.
There was nothing to worry about.
A simple spell would be enough to subdue them.
A few Gryffindors even let out open snickers.
"What? You think this is funny?"
Lockhart was very dissatisfied with the students' reaction.
He had bought those Cornish pixies at a high price.
All for the sake of giving the students a "surprise."
In the end, there was amusement, but no shock.
"Very well."
Seeing that everyone was treating it as no big deal, Lockhart simply opened the cage door.
"Let's see how you deal with them!"
Now the situation truly became a complete mess.
The pixies shot out like rockets, flying all over the room.
They began wrecking everything in the classroom, smashing glass, tearing books, and flipping cabinets upside down.
Anything becomes troublesome once there's enough of it.
Cornish pixies were exactly like that.
After a few minutes, almost all the students had hidden under the desks.
"Quick, help me catch them. They're only some pixies."
Seeing that the students had already understood how frightening that group of pixies could be, Lockhart rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
Striking the pose of a savior, he raised his wand.
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"
However, nothing happened afterward.
It was obvious. His spell had failed.
Hermione was one of the very few people who had not hidden under the desk.
Seeing that scene, she could not help but raise a hand to her forehead.
"I knew it. He's completely useless."
After Lockhart cast his useless spell, a Cornish pixie flew over to him and snatched the wand from his hand.
Several pixies immediately gathered around the wand, holding it together.
The tip of the wand released purple rays, as if it were setting off fireworks inside the classroom.
"Maybe it was a side effect."
Neville slapped away a pixie that was trying to get close to him.
Ron also chimed in.
"Look at that... now they have weapons."
"What do we do? Leave? Or help this idiot?"
Dudley answered by bringing his hands together.
The alchemy array on the backs of his hands gave off a faint glow.
The walls, ceiling, and floor of the classroom seemed to come alive.
Countless large hands, formed from stone and wood, emerged out of nowhere and firmly grabbed that group of mischievous pixies.
The pixies that had been wreaking havoc in the classroom one moment were subdued with a single move the next.
Wandless magic!
Before Lockhart could say anything, Dudley brought his hands together once more.
A new cage appeared on one of the desks.
The hands placed all the captured Cornish pixies inside it.
Then those large hands of stone and wood gradually disappeared back into the walls, ceiling, and floor.
There were one hundred and thirty-two of those creatures in total.
Not one more.
Not one less.
"Professor Lockhart, your wand."
Dudley handed the wand back to Lockhart.
"You did this on purpose to give us practical combat experience, didn't you?"
"Hm?"
Lockhart was slightly stunned at first.
Then he immediately reacted and quickly explained himself.
"Of course... yes, exactly. As expected of Jer... of Mr. Dursley, you even managed to guess my intention in doing this."
Then he pretended to be disappointed as he spoke to the students peeking out from under the desks.
"You have all disappointed me greatly. So many people here, and none of you managed to realize it. Fortunately, Mr. Dursley understood my deeper purpose."
His expression, his attitude, and his tone made it seem as if that had really been the case.
His shamelessness was so thick that even the corner of a city wall would have to admit defeat.
"For that, Mr. Dursley has earned another ten points."
Lockhart spouted complete nonsense with the utmost seriousness.
And, in fact, quite a few students were fooled, truly believing that Lockhart had done it on purpose.
Just then, the bell signaling the end of class rang.
"In that case, Professor Lockhart, we'll be leaving first."
Dudley called Hermione and the others, picked up the cage, and walked toward the classroom exit.
When he carried the cage away, the desk that had previously been level with the others was now much shorter.
Unless one used the Philosopher's Stone, equivalent exchange could not create something from nothing.
"Where are you taking them?"
Lockhart asked reflexively.
Dudley's wandless magic had left a very deep impression on him.
Without question, it was the sign of an excellent wizard.
'Maybe this guy is stronger than me.'
Lockhart thought, with a shocking lack of self-awareness.
"Professor, they're my spoils now."
Dudley spoke with his back to Lockhart.
His voice was slow, but it carried an extremely strong penetrating force.
"What I do with my spoils is my business."
Under the observation of Data Eyes, several enormous words appeared above the heads of those Cornish pixies.
Tamable.
It was time for the Magical Creature Taming Technique to show its usefulness.
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